Continuing on with my guidance for prospective writers…

Not for the $$$

I think my first bit of advice is that, unless your Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, you probably don’t want to focus on the money your book(s) will generate. Particularly if you have narrow markets for your subjects.

Basically, generating revenue isn’t the goal.

However, don’t let that deter you. There are incredible advantages to being a published author. Some that quickly come to mind include:

• Establishing yourself as a published author and subject matter expert

• Building your brand

• Ability to provide classes around topic(s) within your book

• Adding credibility to your consulting practice

• Leveraging the book to gain speaking engagements

I guess my point is, your writing of any sort builds your personal brand. And I think that can be priceless in your professional journey.

Traditional Publishers

I haven’t had broad experience across multiple publishers. I’ve published one book with a traditional publisher Dorset House. I’ve also submitted manuscript ideas to 4-5 more publishers and advanced quite far in their selection and approval processes.

Continuing on with my guidance for prospective writers…

Audience

When I wrote the first edition of my Scrum Product Ownership book, my target audience was the beginning Product Owner. Someone who had literally no experience in the role.

Consider this my persona for the book.

I defined this focus very early, even before outlining the book. And it gave me a clear vision for flow, topic coverage, and literally every word I wrote.

In fact, I continuously asked myself – how is this section going to help the novice Product Owner? And – am I missing anything they need to know?

I can’t tell you how useful creating a primary persona (identifying your audience) is when writing. It helps keep you focused an on-point with your writing. It also helps keep the book lean, because as you edit, you always connect back to your persona. And if the content doesn’t align, then cut it.

Finding your Personal Style

I started public speaking in the late 1990’s. As I said in the introduction, I’m an introvert and I started doing it to improve. One of the early mistakes I made was copying another speakers style for my own. I’m embarrassed to say that I mimicked Johanna Rothman initially. And it didn’t go well.